Posted on 08/08/2007 7:59:09 PM PDT by neverdem
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 8 — Investigators have found what may be a design flaw in the bridge that collapsed here a week ago, in the steel parts that connect girders, raising safety concerns for other bridges around the country, federal officials said on Wednesday.
The Federal Highway Administration swiftly responded by urging all states to take extra care with how much weight they place on bridges of any design when sending construction crews to work on them. Crews were doing work on the deck of the Interstate 35W bridge here when it gave way, hurling rush-hour traffic into the Mississippi River and killing at least five people.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation is months from completion, and officials in Washington said they were still working to confirm the design flaw in the so-called gusset plates and what, if any, role they had in the collapse.
Still, in making public their suspicion about a flaw, the investigators were signaling they considered it a potentially crucial discovery and also a safety concern for other bridges. Gusset plates are used in the construction of many bridges, not just those with a similar design to the one here.
“Given the questions being raised by the N.T.S.B., it is vital that states remain mindful of the extra weight construction projects place on bridges,” Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
Since the collapse, the concern among investigators has focused on “fracture critical” bridges, which can collapse if even a single part fails. But neither the safety board nor the federal Department of Transportation on Wednesday singled out any particular design of bridge in raising its new concerns about gusset plates and the weight of construction equipment.
Concerns about the plates emerged not from the waters of the Mississippi River...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
President Bush screwed up the design of this bridge.
So is this the theory of Unintelligent Design?
I cannot believe this outfit is still around. I remember watching them testify during that roll over and tire flap. Clinton nominated a beauty Kay Bailey to head it, but McCain found she had hidden a $10,000 donation to Dems. Later she showed up on NBC claiming to be a terrorism expert at the Pentagon. I described this to my brother one night and he looked her up. Sure enough Dr Bailey is a master of psychobabble, a shrink at Georgetown.
Why would both ends of the expanse collapse simultaneously, and boom! fall instantly?
related story, not a “dup post” flame
Grab your wallet and hang on tightly to it while the carnival ride makes you dizzy and nauseous.
One side started to fall first. Judging from the wreckage, both sides failed at approximately the same place, the second side being WAY overloaded trying to hold up both sides.
RUSTED gusset plates.
Thanks for the link.
Inertia from the Earth's rotation while Sun spots were at a peak while almost all of our naval fleet deported for Iran to attack.
Not only that but the lunar cycle was at it's optimal for bridge destruction.
I am hearing that this possible area of flawed designed was brought to the NTSB’s attention by the engineering firm hired by the State after the accident. And as the article says, these gusset plates are used in bridges and structures of all kinds and sizes all over the country.
Also pointing to the 100 or so tons of rock dumped on the bridge as part of the construction going on.
I'm thinking it's a little late for it to be a "potential" flaw.
One 18 wheeler = 80,000 lb —> 4 tons. 8 lane Interstate bridge can’t handle 25 trucks at GVW? ( or 50 trucks as half of the lanes were closed). 100 tons shouldn’t be too bad if spread out some.
You’ve watched the video I assume?
80,000 lbs = 40 tons
I agree with you, just adding info from other sources. Jack hammer use was also brought up. There is lots of info yet to come but this new theory of understrength gussets makes the most sense of anything i have heard up until now.
I went down to MPLS today for dr appt. Couldnt bring myself to go 6 more blocks to look at the wreckage. Might regret that in future I spose.
add to that , that the workers were jackhammering the concrete in the same place, and things start to fall into place (no pun intended).
Weak gusset plates, excessive weight contained in one area, and jackhammers vibrating those plates with all that weight on them.
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